Grattaroti left her mark on the IWV

Diane Grattaroti lived with an unwavering passion for the causes she loved.

By Cheeto Barreracbarrera@ridgecrestca.com

Diane Grattaroti lived with an unwavering passion for the causes she loved.

Often times gruff and sometimes needing to be brought down a peg, Grattaroti certainly knew how to stand up for people and organizations in Ridgecrest.

That voice was lost Thursday when Grattaroti passed away in Las Vegas from ongoing medical complications. She was 64."The Women's Center lost one of their own," said Carol Beecroft, chief executive officer at the Women's Center High Desert. "We lost a member of our family."

Grattaroti was born in 1949 and graduated from high school in Jacksonville, Fla. She also attended business school in Jacksonville, where she met her husband Ken who served in the Navy for 23 years.

They came to Ridgecrest in 1984, where Ken was stationed before his honorable discharge in 1986.

Ken passed away from cancer in 1991.

But Grattaroti found her place in Ridgecrest and became a pillar in the community.

Grattaroti was a strong advocate for the Women's Center, helping to secure funds for a new women's shelter as well as the Sexual Assault Response Team that has helped hundreds of valley women.

"The problem was we were short of money by about a half million dollars," Beecroft said. "We became aware of the funding gap, and she came up with a plant to come up with the funds."

Beecroft said Grattaroti pushed to have SART in Ridgecrest, along with the East Kern Rape Crisis Center, so any victim of rape didn't have to go to Bakersfield to get help.

"She was a fighter. She fought for anybody. If she thought they needed something, she made sure they got it," Beecroft said.

Beecroft and the Women's Center learned of Grattaroti's passing while in a meeting in Bakersfield. She told everyone there that they just lost a member of their family and they needed to return home.

Beecroft said the loss is hard, but she knows that Grattaroti never wanted to be in the kind of condition she was at the end.

"It's hard to let someone go, but sometimes you have to," Beecroft said.

Grattaroti had been largely out of the public spotlight for the past few years while she tended to a broken ankle that led to complications. But despite being home bound, she still found ways to keep up the fight.

She made phone calls and sent emails and continued to advocate for causes.

Just this last year, she took on the task of supporting Roy Ashburn's candidacy for First District Supervisor.

"Diane was a very dear friend for many years," Ashburn said. "I'm really sad that she passed."

After breaking her ankle, Grattaroti found herself immobile, eventually requiring surgery that would help her recover. She went to Fresno for her surgery and convalescence.

There, Ashburn visited with her before and after the surgery.

He said during one visit he made a promise that Grattaroti would get out of the bed one day. And at one point, he was at the convalescent facility when the staff thought she was about to make a turn toward walking again.

Sadly, he said, it didn't happen.

"It's a huge loss for the Indian Wells Valley and Ridgecrest," Ashburn said. "She loved the community and loved the people. I'm going to miss her terribly."

The loss will especially be felt on her block, as her neighbors became a strong support network, taking care of her while she was still in Ridgecrest.

Beecroft said she couldn't begin to say how much her neighbors stepped up to help.

Grattaroti was an active member at St. Michael's Episcopal Church where she served on the governing board and as an Altar Guild Directress.

When she wasn't fighting to get funding for the Women's Center, actively supporting Ashburn, being a strong member of St. Michael's Episcopal Church (later St. Michael's Anglican Church), she twisted arms for Mr. IWV.

The December/January phone call that started "How much do you love me?" was usually a precursor for her to lobby you to join the fundraiser for Women's Center. Participants eventually said yes because of her persistence.

It was how Chip Holloway and Jon McQuiston agreed to participate in the lighthearted faux beauty contest.

Holloway remembers Grattaroti as a woman who was tremendously compassionate about the people she met.

"She was the mother of 20 different guys in this town," Holloway said.

Grattaroti also expanded from her role as an advocate into the political arena. She came up short in a 2006 bid for the Ridgecrest City Council, but she also served on the Desert Empire Fair Board of Directors starting in 2007 until 2012.

She was an active member on the board that had its share of controversy. Grattaroti was one of the strongest critics of some board members and former CEOs.

Her term finally ended in 2012 after a year where she didn't attend board meetings because of her ankle injury.

Defiant to the end, Grattaroti refused to step down when requests for accommodations to allow her to continue to take part in meetings were denied, forcing the board to either kick her off or let the term expire.

Beecroft said plans are in the works for a Ridgecrest service.

Grattaroti is survived by a sister in Florida, her daughter and four grandchildren.